The United States imposed visa restrictions on Ghanaian nationals Thursday, making it more difficult for citizens of the West African country to visit the U.S.

In levying the sanctions, the Trump administration accused Ghana of not repatriating nationals who had been deported.

“Ghana has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said in a press release.

The United States periodically restricts visas when countries fail to allow its citizens, when removed from the U.S., to be repatriated.

In July, the Department of Homeland Security imposed visa restrictions on Burma and Laos, after those countries failed to accept removed nationals. Those restrictions affected B1 and B2 nonimmigrant visas, for visitors seeking to enter the United States as tourists or on business trips.

The DHS did not specify what visa classes would be affected by the latest sanctions.

Disproportionate deportations

With fewer than 30 million people, Ghana doesn’t crack the list of Africa’s 10 most-populous nations. But in both 2017 and 2018, it ranked behind only Nigeria in nationals removed from the United States, according to a report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In 2017, 305 Ghanians were removed; in 2018, the number dipped to 243. Nigeria, meanwhile, jumped from 312 removals in 2017 to 369 in 2018, despite having a population seven times larger than Ghana’s.

But both African nations fell far short of Mexico, which had 141,045 people removed in 2018, a 10 percent increase from the year before.

Removals include people ordered to be deported after entering the United States and those denied entry at the border.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Poynter.org and Reuters. She researches trends in analytics and digital journalism. For tips and inquiries, email: salemsolomon@voanews.com.